5 Reasons Writers Should Always Carry a Notebook

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A notebook.

A tool that is so simple yet some of us haven't purchased one since the days of back-to-school sales and picking out the spiral notebooks with our favorite character boldly printed on the front. Or if you were my mother you only bought the thirty-cent notebooks because you knew one of your children would be writing stories in them and the other three would either doodle in or lose theirs. 

Safe to say we always had a piled-up backup supply hidden in my mom's office for when we inevitably would need a replacement throughout the school year. 

The very first story I ever wrote was in between the pages of my geography and math notes. 

If you're not like me with a collection of more notebooks than you will ever be able to fill then here are five reasons to help convince you to always carry a notebook with you wherever you go. 

1. A place to put all of your ideas whenever they come to you

Ideas come from anywhere. You can be inspired while watching tv, riding the bus, or shopping for groceries. Instead of lying to yourself and saying you'll remember it later, don't take the chance and just write it down. A mind is a funny place and with so much going on in the world it's easy to let things just slip from our minds. 

2. Distraction free!

How many times have you gone onto your phone or onto your computer to work on your story or to revisit an idea you typed down and suddenly a social media notification will drag you down a path of endless scrolling until hours have passed and you completely forget what you were even doing in the first place? Probably at least more than once. Using a notebook is internet, social media, and distraction-free as long as you keep your phone silenced or out of reach. 

3. You can't accidentally delete the whole thing. 

Aside from setting it on fire, a notebook is a hard thing to erase. Yes, there can be flaws such as losing it, but the same can be said for your phone or laptop. Things happen with technology, I'm sure almost everyone has lost entire irretrievable documents to the whim of the internet. Say your power goes out or your laptop just decides to give up on life. Then what? If your things weren't saved in some type of cloud then they'll all be lost forever. 

4. Commitment

Carrying around a notebook is a way to dedicate yourself to your writing. It's an easy way to work on stories or ideas while at school, at work, or folding laundry. If you're out and about then all the more reason to be using it. You don't want to be carrying it around for nothing, do you?

5. Perfectionism doesn't exist but creativity does 

When you type out your ideas into a word document, most of the time you are looking at back words on a white screen. Maybe you'll use a highlighter tool every once in a while, but not many writers switch their colors around when typing. There's a bigger feel of permanence when it's all in black and white before you even though you know you can hit the backspace key whenever you need. When you write your ideas out on paper you can express your creativity more easily through colors, bold lines, and scratching out things you no longer need. You're also free to doodle in the margins or all over the page things that may be helpful for you to visualize your ideas.  

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Notebooks are a great tool for writers to utilize. They are cheap, easy to use, and can be at your fingertips in seconds.

Plus you can decorate it to fit your personality and make it something you are proud to carry and show off.

Let it be so readily in your hand that it's easily recognized by your friends and family that you have them saying, "they are going to be a bestselling author one day with their dedication."

Even if a notebook isn't for you, keep an app right on your phone's home screen or laptop so that it is readily available to you whenever you have an idea that needs to be remembered. 

Best of luck and keep writing.

With love,

B.K. xo

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